January 1st, 2010.
Gentlemen:
We are all entitled to our opinions about anything under the sun. I agree with BullDogMack13 about the Kivett's, I've dealt with them and I have had no cause for complaint. I have also dealt with Memphis Equipment Company and have no cause to complain there either. Sure, you pay a little more, but if your truck is your daily runner, making money for you, and it ain't running and you need the part yesterday, usually Memphis will have it and ship it ASAP.
I suspect a lot of Steel Soldiers members are folks who like the charm of the trucks, or the history of the trucks, but from what I've seen, very few of us can really justify owning or pay for the real cost of these trucks, as most of us don't work them.... I ran into the same class of character in the railroad equipment business.... they wanted private passenger cars, or even locomotives, but rarely could they afford the real cost to maintain the equipment to Federal Railroad Administration, or God help them, Amtrak inspection standards. Generally they wanted a first class item at salvage prices, and permit me to say... it isn't gonna happen very often.
Because of the age and design of these trucks, they are labor and maintenance intensive, and parts are not going to get any cheaper. If you have an M35 on an M37 budget, you may be asking for trouble in a matter of years, and very likely your truck is gonna fall into the hands of either someone who can afford it, or become a parts trucks for one of the dealers. The only way to avoid this if your budget is small is to put it up on blocks in the barn and pickle it.... the future will thank you in about 25 years.
Some of these vehicles will fall under "Antique" Classification, and as such are mileage and useage limited by law, but they are still gonna need repairs (at a lesser rate) and are still gonna need replacements for age related deterioration issues.... guess what, few new parts are being made in the states, and we all know about Chinese quality, so if you can't afford to maintain it now, you're not gonna be able to maintain it in the future. This is why old locomotives, ships, airplanes and trucks hit the scrap heap, because they become uneconomic to continue to maintain for operation. We may grieve over the fact, but few things man has ever made will stand the test of the eons to come.
Just my two cent's worth,
and permit me to wish you all a safe and Prosperous New Years,
Cheers,
Kyle F. McGrogan
N.B. Yes, I went to the Christopher Columbus School of Typing..... Pick a key and land on it! (Often the wrong one--date corrected 1/2/2010)!
Cheers.......
